The F-word
“Be careful not to flip into falsetto!” It’s a common saying in the singing world, but is falsetto actually bad? Is it only a weak, breathy sound, or can it be beautiful, dynamic and useful?
What is falsetto?
Falsetto is when the vocal folds are stretched thin and have a light connection. The muscles that are used to abduct the vocal folds are relaxed, which means that they can vibrate easily. It can be breathy and have a flute like quality to the sound.
Both men and women have access to falsetto. It’s just a set of movements within the larynx and is therefor available to everyone. Yay! In my experience falsetto can often be confused with ‘head voice’, but there is a difference, head voice has slightly more vocal fold compression, and that’s why it can be misleading and difficult to tell the difference.
Why do we need to train it?
We spend a lot of time trying to sing loudly, driving our chest voice up, and learning to belt high notes. This means that we are constantly using one set of muscles, but like the bicep and the tricep, the muscles that control the opening and closing of the vocal folds are antagonistic. If we only train one of them, the other will get weaker.
In more complex terms, if we continually engage the Lateral Cricoarytenoid and Thyroarytenoid (the muscles that bring the vocal folds together) then the Posterior Cricoarytenoid muscle (the muscle that helps separate the vocal folds) won’t be able to function optimally.
Why is this important?
Soft, light singing is a key component in maintaining a healthy voice. It’s very important that we are balanced as singers so if we want to keep singing rock, pop, MT, opera, punk, etc… It’s vital that we continue to exercise our entire voice, especially if we have to only sing in one style most of the time.
An added bonus to using falsettos is that it gives you a free ride up to higher notes. If you can hit the note in falsetto, then it’s only a matter of time until you can hit it in another style.
But what you if don’t have any falsetto?
Not a problem. There are lots of people with great voices that don't have much falsetto, but having it will give you even more options. It's also an easy fix! It just means you have to hit the vocal gym and get back to training, after all, it’s just a muscle like any other. Learn to access it and then add it to your daily warm-up.
Falsetto is a wonderful tool we have at our disposal, so don’t be afraid to chuck out the odd F-word every now and then!